


What's in Store

by haruka



Category: Death Note
Genre: Alternate Universe, Death Note - Freeform, Family, Gen, Humour, RPG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 23:19:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5604715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haruka/pseuds/haruka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mundane trip to the grocery store is anything but for Roger when he brings four teenagers along.</p><p>This fic was inspired by a scene from an AU RPG that my wife and I play, currently featuring a mixture of Death Note charas from all its various genres.  Ages, relationships, and other things have been altered, so basically, if anything is canon here, it's probably an accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's in Store

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rogueleopard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rogueleopard/gifts).



L typed on the keyboard with two fingers, eyes glued to the screen. The results that popped up were in keeping with what he'd suspected, but there was a component missing. Only one ….

The figure that appeared at his right shoulder had moved so silently he could have bludgeoned L without his having even a moments reaction time. "What are you working on?"

"A case involving a series of mutilated bodies left behind, but all had two tiny puncture holes in the neck."

"Vampires?"

"More likely werewolves, at least on the surface. I think there's something else behind this, though."

Another figure, this time on his other side. "Did you say werewolves? Hey, is that one of the victims? What a mess."

"Yes, I suspect they did that deliberately, to make the police take more notice and possibly to get the media involved."

Mello, the one on his left, shook his head, blonde pageboy swaying back and forth. "No werewolf would do that deliberately, L. They're like the vampires, they like keeping a low profile." He took a big bite of the chocolate bar in his hand. 

"Not if they’re trying to get vampires blamed for the crime."

"That makes sense," agreed Near from his right. "Especially given the puncture wounds. Vampires don't kill messily like that."

"Boys!" called one of their guardians, Roger, from downstairs. "Come and eat lunch!"

"Coming!" Mello darted out of the room while Near followed more slowly, glancing back at L, who didn't show any sign of leaving his seat.

Ten minutes later, his other guardian and right-hand man, Watari, came up behind him.

"Ryuuzaki, " he said, using the nickname he had chosen for the boy at least ten years earlier. All the Wammy boys had nicknames to protect their identities outside the safety of their walls. "You must come and eat. You asked me to make sure you left the computer for meals from now on."

The teenager sighed and rolled his eyes at his own actions. He had indeed made that request.

"I'll be right there, I promise."

Watari nodded and left him, knowing that if L made him a promise, he would keep it.

\--

True to his word, L came down to the dining room shortly after the others had sat down. He took his own seat and nodded to Watari as his tea was poured for him.

"Mello says you're working on some kind of vampire/werewolf case," Matt remarked, not looking up from the handheld video game until Watari plucked it from his fingers as he passed.

"Yes, but there are still a couple of loose ends that I'd like to confirm before I can definitively name the culprit." L dropped a couple of sugar cubes into his tea, followed by a couple more.

"You should be careful, Ryuuzaki," cautioned Roger, frowning. "These are supernatural beings – you may be out of your realm."

"Not Ryuuzaki!" Mello declared, shoving a mouthful of potato into his mouth, making sure to swallow before he continued lest he get scolded again. "He's a match for anyone!"

"I concur," Near said quietly.

"Thank you for your support," L replied, poising his fork over the piece of cake in front of him.

"I need to go to the grocery store after lunch," Roger said. "If anyone has anything to add to my list, let me know."

"Chocolate!" Mello piped up.

"You have plenty of chocolate."

"White milk?" Near asked.

"Already on the list."

"Sugar."

"Ryuuzaki, we have enough sugar to replace all the snow in Antarctica."

"Earl Grey tea."

Roger smiled. "Yes, Watari. THAT we can do."

"I've got nothing to do today," Matt said. "Can I go with you?"

"Certainly, if you want to," Roger said in surprise.

Mello raised his head. "If Matt's going, I want to go, too."

"I'd like to go," Near said. "And I'll bring my robot." He held up his favourite toy.

Roger looked surprised. "All of you? Won't you find it boring? I could be there for a while."

"Nah, it'll be fun." Mello grinned.

"Perhaps I'll go as well."

Everyone looked at L. Watari tilted his head uncertainly.

"Are you sure? You've never gone on a shopping trip before."

"Not long ago you told me that you were worried because I never seemed to have any fun." L smiled at him. "Mello says it'll be fun, so I'd like to go."

"What about the case you're working on?"

"I'll have it finished before everyone is in the car."

"I guess that's settled, IF it's all right with Roger." Watari looked at his old friend. "You're the one who'll be commandeering not only the grocery shopping, but corralling four teenagers."

"I'm seventeen years old," L mumbled. "I hardly think I need 'corralling.'"

Watari raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you say something, Ryuuzaki?"

"Not at all." He licked icing off his spoon.

"We'll give it a try," Roger decided. "And then see if we'll ever do so again."

\--

"So this is the supermarket," L remarked as they got out of the car. Mello was already making a beeline for the carts, and was returning with a big one by the time Roger was ready to go in.

"Thank you, Mello, how unusually helpful of you."

"Hey, I'm here for you, Roger. Ready to comb the aisles and find the bargains!"

"I'll be happy if you're just quiet and well-behaved."

"Yes, like me." Near smiled smugly.

Matt snorted and Near shot him a nasty look. Mello was on his way to the sliding doors of the market. L gave both Matt and Near a gentle push to follow him, for which Roger was grateful. Maybe this trip wouldn't be a disaster, after all.

\--

It took no time at all for Roger to realize that he could not keep his eye on four children (and one robot) all at once. He'd had hopes that L would do some of the babysitting for his younger brothers, but the fascination of his first trip to a grocery store proved too tempting. They had barely entered the produce section just inside the doors before he'd lost sight of all of them.

"As I expected." He sighed.

He had just begun moving through the produce section and was looking over a nice eggplant when Mello appeared next to him. "I hate eggplant."

"You've eaten it before."

"Yeah, because you told me I had to eat all my dinner or I didn't get dessert. And yet all Ryuuzaki eats is dessert. How fair is that?"

"Roger, my robot wants us to get these white grapes." Near put them into the cart.

"Well, I suppose that's all right. They're healthy, and –"

"Hey, check it out!" Mello tossed three oranges into the air and began juggling them expertly.

"Impressive," Near commented dryly. "Did you learn that at clown college?"

"Hey!" Mello yelled, distracted just long enough that he dropped the oranges.

"Pick those up right now!" Roger ordered. "Honestly!"

"Man, organic stuff is expensive," Matt remarked as he joined them. "Those are probably the same tomatoes as the regular ones and they just call them organic so they can charge more."

"Have any of you seen Ryuuzaki?" Roger looked around, suddenly worried to have the world's most valuable teenager out of his sight. He knew Watari was concerned enough about the boy coming on this trip without his having to tell his old friend that he'd lost him.

"The bakery is over there, right?" Mello pointed. "I'll bet he's there."

Roger relaxed. Of course he would be. "Near, go and make sure of it and if he's there, tell him to stay put. I'll be done in this section in a few minutes."

"I'll get there first!" Mello ran ahead. Near shook his head and Matt pulled out his handheld video game, already bored. Roger put the eggplant in the cart, grateful for a few private moments to pick out some healthy food before rejoining them.

He was relieved to see all four kids there when he arrived in the bakery section. L was eating the free cookies out of the container on the counter that was usually reserved for kids under ten, and receiving looks of annoyance from the staff behind the counter as a result.

"Ryuuzaki, leave those alone!" Roger admonished. The teenager looked at him for a moment, then brushed off his hands and began gazing down at the cakes in the display.

"Wow, those look good!" Mello exclaimed. "Especially that double chocolate one there!"

"The white one with the coconut looks better," Near said.

Matt wasn't paying attention; he was deep into his handheld game.

"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Mello signalled one of the counter workers. "I'd like to get that big chocolate –"

"We don't need to buy cake today; Watari already has cake at the house," Roger interrupted Mello, and shot a look at L, who ate some form of cake every day and was already picking up one of the double-layer ones. "Now we need to get bread before we leave this section."

"Over here!" Mello darted off again. Roger waited until he saw L reluctantly put the cake down before he turned the direction of his cart to follow the blonde.

He had chosen a couple of loaves and turned back to the boys, only to find they had scattered again. He sighed. It seemed this was going to be a pattern.

"Hey, Roger, check it out!" Mello came from behind him and shoved a fresh loaf of bread in his face. "Cheese bread! Smells good, right?"

It did, but he didn't want it shoved up his nose. He gently pushed it away.

"Yes, but it's very fatty and greasy and not good for you."

"I know. I didn't want it, I just thought it smelled good." He dropped it into a display of French baguettes.

"Mello, put that back where you got it," Roger told him.

"Okaaaay." The blonde grabbed the bread back and headed for the correct section.

"Hi."

Roger turned again to find Near on his other side, pouting.

"What's wrong, Near?"

"The next section is all raw meat. It's gross."

The older man sighed. It was no secret that Near didn't like red meat, although chicken and pork were fine with him.

"You can keep one hand on the cart and close your eyes."

"Can't I just look around on my own?"

Before he could answer, Roger caught sight of L, perusing a display of doughnuts made fresh in store. He was opening one of the glass doors and reaching for a particularly delicious-looking one filled with a thick line of whipped cream.

"STOP!" he called out, loudly enough to not only halt L with a jolt, but make all the other customers within fifty feet stare at him.

Near was holding his ear. "Ow, Roger, that hurt."

Mello joined them. "Why'd you yell? I wasn't doing anything wrong!"

L came over, pouting at the look Roger was giving him.

"I was going to buy it, not eat it on the spot."

"Watari has plenty of pastries and other sweets for you at the house," Roger said firmly. "Now can we all get back to my shopping list?"

"Where's Matt?" Mello looked around, then perked up. "I'll go find him!"

He was gone again before Roger could open his mouth. "Where does that boy get all his energy?" he muttered.

"Chocolate," L and Near stated as one.

\--

Unfortunately for Near, Roger did have to go through the meat section. He noticed L keeping him distracted by speaking in a low voice about the supernatural case he had indeed solved before they'd left. Grateful for the assistance, Roger chose a nice roast, ground beef, chicken breasts, and pork chops. At least Near would eat half of those.

"All right, let's turn down the drugstore aisles; we need some toothpaste and a few other things." He angled the cart that way.

"Good, it's freezing over here," Near complained and L rubbed the smaller boy's arms.

"Toothpaste, toothpaste …." Roger searched the overhead signs for an indication which aisle they needed until he heard familiar snickering nearby. He frowned.

"Ryuuzaki, can you check that aisle there and see what Matt and Mello are up to, please?"

L headed that way and peeked around the corner. "They're choosing condoms."

"Hey!" Matt and Mello exclaimed.

"You two get over here right now!"

They grumbled as they passed L. "We weren't choosing, we were looking."

"You were choosing." L smirked.

Roger wiped his face with a monogrammed handkerchief. He wondered what Watari was doing right now, with all the children here, tormenting him in this store? Probably knocking back a drink and celebrating his newfound freedom.

"Here's the toothpaste." Near dropped it into the cart.

"What? Oh! Good, thank you, Near. We're going to need more than just one tube, though … at least five."

"I'll get my own, I don't like that kind." Mello disappeared down the toothpaste aisle.

"It's the same kind he always uses." Near twirled a piece of hair around his fingers and rolled his eyes.

"No, it's the same brand, not the same flavour," Matt corrected without looking up from his game.

"This is it." Mello dumped several more tubes of toothpaste into the cart. "Oh, and I got this for you, Roger." He smiled angelically as he held up a tube of Polident.

"Very funny, Mello. I'll have you know all of my teeth are my own." Although, he thought, if I grind them together anymore during this trip, that may not be the case soon. "Go put that back."

The blonde snickered as he obeyed.

"Hmm," Roger noticed something on the shelf near him. He picked it up. "This is a nice hairbrush." He eyed L significantly. "Perhaps we should get this for you."

"To do what? Spank him with? He'd never use it for his hair." Matt's thumbs flew across his game buttons.

"Excuse me, my hair gets brushed regularly." L sniffed, affronted.

"When Watari forces the issue." Roger put the brush back. He hesitated when he recognized an item in the cart that he hadn't put there. "Mello." He removed the pack of Ensure and pushed it into the boy's arms. "Put this back where you found it."

"Just trying to help you out, Roger. You aren't getting any younger." The grinning fourteen-year-old walked off with the bottles.

"I feel like I'm getting older by the minute in this store," Roger remarked under his breath.

"Aren't these the drink things Watari gives Ryuuzaki all day long?" Matt laughed at a display of squeezable fruit snacks. "They're from the baby section?!"

"Those aren't the same," Near corrected. "His are vitamins; those are baby food. Same packaging."

L gave Matt a cuff, and his game made the unmistakeable sound of his having lost the round.

"Aw, MAN!"

"We need to find razor blades." Roger consulted his list, trying to ignore them.

"I just saw them back there." Mello pointed. Roger turned to look and noticed a new foreign item in the cart.

"MELLO!" He removed the large package and shoved it into the boy's arms. "I do NOT need Depends, thank you!"

"Okay, but you should keep the Gas-X I put in there. Trust me."

Now Roger wished he'd kept the hairbrush.

\--

He did succeed in finding the section with razor blades, but not without extensive commentary by all the boys about how silly it was that they separated what was essentially the same razors into his and hers by colour.

"They could save half this space if everyone could just use the same stupid razors," Mello said firmly.

"Didn't you know girls aren't allowed to like black? And guys can't like pink?"

"Actually, Matt, with your hair, you SHOULD avoid pink."

"Who asked you, Near?!"

The platinum blonde picked up a box from a shelf of hair dyes behind them. "Is this your colour, Matt? 'Power Red'?"

"His hair colour is natural, thank you," Mello replied. Near lifted an eyebrow significantly.

"How do YOU know?"

Mello just smirked, then grinned and grabbed a different box. "Hey, Roger, here you go! Grecian Formula!"

Roger gave him a Look, then went into the next aisle and came back with a smaller box.

"What did you get?" L asked curiously.

"Aspirin."

\--

It was a relief to finally get out of the drugstore aisles, although they somehow ended up with a bottle of shower gel that smelled of chocolate in the cart.

Speaking of smells, no one liked the aroma surrounding the seafood counter.

"That's disgusting!" Mello wrinkled his nose. "How can they stand to work near that all day?"

"They get used to it, I imagine," L remarked.

Matt snorted. "They probably go home smelling of fish, too."

Near shrugged. "They have to make a living." Something caught his eye and he moved closer to a tank. "Those poor lobsters. I'd like to free them into the ocean."

Roger looked at him oddly. "Near, you've eaten lobster before."

"Well, yes, but I've never seen them in one of these tanks."

"Why don't you take one home as a pet?" Mello suggested with a smirk. Near turned to look at him pointedly.

"Maybe I will."

"Maybe you WON'T." Roger deliberately steered Near away from the tank. "Let's go down this aisle – I need a couple of things here."

\--

Miraculously, all four boys were quiet for a few moments while Roger perused the items on the shelves and compared to his list. They seemed puzzled by what they saw.

"What section IS this?" Mello exclaimed suddenly.

"Health food," Roger replied absently as he checked his list and took an item off the shelf.

"What are those?" Near asked curiously.

"These are rice cakes. They're a healthy snack."

Mello laughed loudly. "Seriously?! Roger, no one is going to eat those things!"

"I tried one once on a dare," Matt said, focused once more on his game. "They taste like stale air. Better used for coasters than eating."

The older man sighed. "Relax, all of you. These are for me."

"Thank goodness," L muttered.

"It looks like some of them DO come with sugar." Near pointed out. "That one is caramel corn flavoured."

"Why wouldn't I just eat real caramel corn instead of a disgusting imitation?"

"All right, all right," Roger said, pushing the cart forward. "Let's move on."

The rest of the health food section didn't interest any of the boys, who slipped off one by one on quests of their own. Roger was a little worried not to have them in sight, but decided to take advantage of the respite. In the next five minutes, he added three more items to his cart uninterrupted, but jumped when he heard a loud whoop from elsewhere in the store. He followed the sound and was almost run down by a pair of carts tearing across his path at breakneck speed, their drivers obviously racing to an imaginary finish line. His heart sank as he saw Matt and Mello were the perpetrators, with Near and Ryuuzaki inside the carts, enjoying the ride.

"Boys!" he shouted.

"Hey, you kids!" The store manager charged after them. He saw Roger's distress and stopped to frown at him. "Are you responsible for them?"

"Regrettably, yes."

"Damn it!" Mello exclaimed further down the aisle. "I can't believe we lost!"

"Why do you think I took Near?" Matt asked with a grin. "He's a lot lighter than Ryuuzaki."

"I think I'm insulted."

"Uh oh." Near poked Ryuuzaki and they all watched Roger stomp in their direction.

"You four should be ashamed of yourselves! Especially you, Ryuuzaki; you're old enough to know better!"

"Mello said it would be fun."

"Hey, don't blame me!"

The store manager joined Roger. "Any more disturbances and I'll have to ask you all to leave."

"Yes, I'm very sorry," Roger told him.

They watched the manager take the carts away, then Roger gave them a stern look. "From this moment on, none of you are to leave my sight. I want to get through the rest of this trip without incident, so behave yourselves or there will be dire consequences when we get home."

They all nodded silently as one.

\--

The threat proved effective for a little while. None of the boys made so much as a peep as Roger made his way through the next aisle, which consisted mostly of canned vegetables and pasta.

The very long cereal aisle came next. Matt noticed L's eyes scanning the shelves as a hint of a smile began to form.

Mello apparently felt that he'd held back long enough. "Yay! I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!" He grabbed the box.

"Mello …," Roger began.

"Aw, come on, Roger!" the blonde whined, hugging the box to his chest. "Please? You can't expect us to eat oatmeal ALL the time!"

"When did I ever force you to eat plain oatmeal? If I didn't put in chocolate chips and syrup, Ryuuzaki would turn up his nose at it!"

"So would I," Matt muttered.

"How about some nice Shredded Wheat?"

"Near is gone," Mello piped up.

"What?" It was true; he had somehow missed seeing the small teen slip away.

"Is he still in the last aisle?" Roger left the cart with the boys as he headed back to look around the corner. "Auugh! Near!"

The other boys all hurried to join him. Matt and Mello started laughing while L grinned. Near was peacefully kneeling in the middle of the aisle, stacking cans of vegetables in an interesting pattern.

"We should have known!" Mello snickered.

"Near, put all of those back!" Roger told him. "Those aren't your toys!"

"Toy?" Near stopped suddenly, looking left and right. "Where's my robot?!"

Five pairs of eyes determined quickly that it was not in the aisle.

"Uh oh," Mello covered his ears.

"I WANT MY ROBOT!"

"Calm down, we'll find it!" Roger assured him. His nerves were close to being shot, and a Near meltdown would do nothing to soothe them.

"Roger, they're taking our cart away," L remarked, peeking down the cereal aisle where they'd left it.

"No, wait!" Roger backtracked, waving his arms at the store employee, who had been about to make off with their 'abandoned' cart. "We're not done!"

L turned to the younger boys. "Mello, the last time I remember seeing Near with his robot was when we had our cart races – would you please go check the cart corral? Matt and Near, please put the cans back on the shelves –" He paused, tilting his head as he looked at the formation of Near's can sculpture. He smiled as he realized it was a three-dimensional 'L.'

"I'm back!" Roger declared as he came around the corner with the cart just in time to see Mello disappear. "NOW where is that boy running off to?!"

"To find Near's robot." L patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Relax, everything is under control."

Roger watched Near and Matt return the cans to the shelves, and as they finished up, Mello returned holding the robot triumphantly.

"They found it in the cart and had it at their service counter." He handed the toy to Near, who clutched it close to his chest.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"Now let's go back to the cereal." L led the way back to the magic land of boxed sugar. Roger shook his head and wished he could influence L as easily as the detective did his younger brothers.

\--

Near picked up a box. "I like Frosted Flakes."

"YOU'RE a frosted flake," Mello told him, earning him a frown followed by a raspberry.

"There's the white food thing with him again," Matt pointed out, then shrugged. "Not big on cold cereal myself."

"Alpha Bits, Honeycomb, Sugar Puffs …." L looked like he wanted to walk off with most of the aisle.

"Pick ONE," Roger relented.

"One each, got it!" Mello happily deposited his Cocoa Puffs in the cart. Roger opened his mouth to say he meant one box, but decided it wasn't worth it. Near put his Frosted Flakes in with the other groceries, but it looked like Ryuuzaki was going to take a while deciding.

"We do need to finish this shopping trip today," Roger hinted.

At that moment, the older teen's gaze fell on the perfect choice and he picked up some Lucky Charms. "There are marshmallows in this one."

Mello leaned toward the other two boys and whispered, "I'm calling it right now; he's gonna pick out all the cereal bits and leave just the marshmallows in the bowl."

"All right, let's move on." Roger pushed the cart forward.

\--

The next aisle held the baking supplies. If possible, L looked even happier than he had in the cereal section.

"Oh look, it's two of L's best friends -- Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker!" Matt snickered.

"So many different kinds of cake …." L's gaze drifted from one box of mix to the next.

"As if Watari would ever use a cake mix for one of Ryuuzaki's desserts," Roger commented.

"Wow!" Mello started picking up bags. "Milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, mint chocolate chips, butterscotch chips –"

"Mello, please. We don't need all those. Trust me, Watari never runs low on ingredients for sweet creations."

Near looked up at him curiously. "Then why are we in this aisle?"

"We need flour."

"But isn't that an ingredient for –"

"Here's flour!" Mello grabbed a bag. "Near, catch!"

"NO!" Roger yelled fearfully while Near ducked behind L with his robot.

Mello laughed loudly. "I was just kidding! Like I'd really trust him to catch it!" He moved to put the heavy bag in the cart but it slipped out of his hands at the last moment and exploded all over their other items as well as the boy who dropped it.

"Oh, Mello!" Roger said in exasperation.

"Aw, CRAP!" He coughed, brushing the powdery substance off of him. "It was an accident, Roger!"

"Now you're whiter than Near," Matt told him.

"I'll go get a new cart," L said, heading off. "We can transfer the items over and dust each one off as we go."

Roger sighed. This was turning into the longest shopping trip in history.

\--

Last aisle. He had made it to the last aisle.

It hadn't been without a struggle. The aisle that followed the baking supplies had been filled with sugared drinks, potato chips, and worst of all, candy. Only by grabbing L firmly by the back of the shirt had he managed to stop him from entering the aisle and potentially spending the day there. 

Now they were in the frozen food section. Surely they couldn't get into any trouble here.

"I'm bored. Can we go soon?" Matt asked.

"God willing, yes," Roger told him, consulting his list. "I need some frozen strawberries."

"Fruit is in there." Mello pointed, a dusting of flour falling from his sleeve. They'd cleaned as much as they could off of their items and off of Mello, but couldn't get all of it.

"Ooo, frozen pie." L's eyes were bright as he looked behind a nearby door. "And cake!"

"Vanilla ice cream." Near looked at it longingly.

"I've got the strawberries, let's go to the checkout," Roger said with an almost overwhelming sense of relief. As they turned the corner, he realized they were missing someone. "Where is Near?"

"Taking a closer look at the ice cream," Mello told him..

Roger glanced back and saw no one in the aisle at all. Then motion caught his eye from inside one of the freezer compartments.

"AH! NEAR!"

L gave Mello a stern look which the boy returned with wide innocent eyes.

"What?"

\--

Checkout! It's the checkout!

Roger found the words running through his mind to the tune of The Flintstones theme. He was almost giddy with joy that the end of his ordeal was in sight.

"All right, boys, help me get these things onto the counter." He began taking items out of the cart and placing them on the moving conveyor. The girl at the cash register was smiling at him as she ran each item over the scanner, causing it to beep as the price appeared onscreen.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" She asked, then paused in confusion, shaking flour off the eggplant.

"Yes, thank you," he said, noting each item as he and the boys loaded the counter. Strawberries, new bag of flour, Mars bar … what?

"Where did this come from?" He caught the chocolate bar before the girl could ring it through.

"Probably there." She pointed to the display of various chocolate treats and candies, situated deliberately beside the checkouts for last-second impulse buys. Roger glanced suspiciously at his teenage charges, but they were apparently concentrating on moving items onto the counter as he asked. He put the Mars bar back on the display and turned back to watch rice cakes, razors, and a Caramilk go by ….

"Boys!" He grabbed the bar and put it back on the display, turning around to see a pack of M&Ms sliding toward the scanner along with the cereal.

Roger wasn't sure how they were doing it, but for the next two minutes, every time he put one chocolate treat back with the others, a new one magically appeared on the conveyer. By the time their cart was empty, he'd lost track of how many had slipped by him.

"I swear, boys, when we get home, we're going to have a long talk about –" Roger stopped as he searched for his wallet. It wasn't in his coat pocket. Or his pants pocket. Or anywhere. He had a sudden, horrible vision of how he'd put it aside as he changed coats before leaving the house. He'd forgotten to pick it up again.

"Did any of you bring any money?" he asked the boys.

Four heads shook simultaneously.

Roger felt his headache getting worse, and now he couldn't even buy aspirin.

\--

"Well, you were right, Mello." L smiled at him as they rode home. "That was fun."

"Most of it," Near corrected.

"It was more fun than I expected," Matt admitted.

Mello laughed. "Best of all, we get to do it all over again tomorrow!"

"No," Roger said through gritted teeth as he clutched the steering wheel tightly. "Best of all, you get to do it all over again tomorrow with WATARI."

\--

(2016)

Death Note belongs to Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata


End file.
